


the survivability of the human race

by tadanoris



Series: leoji week 2017 [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 16:04:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10643295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tadanoris/pseuds/tadanoris
Summary: The college experience is interesting.Sometimes it's sitting in the library till midnight because the heating in your room doesn't work; other times it's watching the guy next to you mix coffee and a can of red bull, and making sure he makes it home.





	

**Author's Note:**

> based off of [this tumblr post.](http://tumblinguistics.tumblr.com/post/111857762221/ooswinssouffle-appropriately-inappropriate)

No one likes having classes at 7am. Even Leo, one of the rare people who didn’t mind getting up early, had to admit that 7am was a bit too much. The fact that the lecturer of this specific morning class spoke in a monotonous voice for nearly two hours straight didn’t help either, but it was an important class that Leo forced himself to struggle through every Wednesday. It was tiring to stay focused on something so boring for a long time, yet Leo usually managed to get through it without falling asleep. By the time the lecture was done, Leo was always one of the few students who still sat upright, though the last bits of information usually went over his head as well.

Getting to a morning class during the winter was even worse. Leo may be close to being a human space heater, but even he struggled with getting out of bed when the temperature outside dropped below zero– especially when he knew his roommate got to sleep in for another three hours or so. Sometimes he envied Phichit for having such a nice schedule without any classes before 10am, but then again, the projects Phichit got were pretty ridiculous sometimes. Majoring in photography definitely wasn’t easy, even if it meant getting more sleep in the mornings.

So Leo sucks it up and prepares himself for the day. With his second cup of coffee in his hand and his hair tied up, he was as ready as he could be.

He gets there with fifteen minutes to spare. There are a couple of other students scattered about in the auditorium already, most of them occupied with their phone or leaning on the desk, trying to get in some last bits of sleep. Leo doesn’t want to bother any of them, finding a seat close enough to the front so that he’ll be able to focus, yet not too close so the teacher might spot him if he pulls out his phone.

The boy who sits down next to him ten minutes later looks like he’s seconds away from passing out. The dark circles beneath his eyes look like they’re permanent at this point, and it doesn’t look like he’s combed his hair the past couple of days. Not that Leo is judging– he’s pretty sure every college student has been at that phase at some point, but it is a bit worrisome.

Leo doesn’t know the boy at all. He’s seen him a couple of times in this class, but he’s never sat next to him before, never even said hello to him. He vaguely remembers seeing him having a group presentation during the first months of the semester, but the name had been too unfamiliar for Leo remember it.

But even if Leo can’t even remember the other’s name, he still finds himself somewhat worried about his well-being. Despite getting a decent six hours of sleep, Leo felt like he would barely be able to get through this lecture– he had no idea how someone who looked like they hadn’t sleep in weeks would be able to survive this.

“Hey, are you okay?” Leo asks, no longer able to stay put. He would rather help the other out now instead of having him pass out halfway through the lecture.

At first, it doesn’t look like the boy has noticed that Leo has spoken to him. It doesn’t even look like he’s actually there, his gaze fixed on a spot far ahead of him. Leo is about to open his mouth to say something again– probably something along the lines of _wait, are you even breathing–_ when the boy gives a small nod, still with the same spaced out expression on his face. He doesn’t even look at Leo.

Leo doesn’t believe that answer one bit, but he doesn’t want to pry. He doesn’t even know this person at all– he was obviously sleep-deprived, but perhaps he was just the quiet type as well. Leo can vaguely remember him looking nervous before the presentation all those months ago, so maybe he was a little shy?

He’s tempted to ask further about the other’s well-being but the lecturer walks in and Leo doesn’t get the chance, though he does occasionally sneak glances over at the other throughout the lecture, just in case.

Leo doesn’t know when or how, but by the time the lecturer gives them a five minute break (probably just an excuse for him to go get some coffee), the boy next to him has pulled up a thermal mug filled with coffee, as well as a can of some energy drink. Leo tries not to stare too much but he can’t help but look over when the other begins pouring the energy drink into the coffee with no hesitation or facial expression.

Suddenly, he turns to Leo, looking him straight in the eyes. Leo is pretty sure he’s never seen a gaze so dead before.

“I’m going to die,” the semi-stranger suddenly announces before downing the contents of the mug in one go. Leo doesn’t even have time to say or do anything about it, simply staring with wide eyes as the other consumes far too much caffeine for his own good. He’s shorter than Leo and has a slimmer frame– Leo was pretty sure that much caffeine would be enough to make a body builder hyper, he’s not sure what’s going to happen to someone who looks like he’s five foot even.

“You are,” Leo agrees, brows furrowed in mild worry and shock.

The boy simply gives him a smile, a rather ominous one at that, before turning back to the front where the lecturer has come back again.

It’s kind of scary how quickly the caffeine sets in. The other goes from looking like something out of The Walking Dead, to nearly vibrating in his seat and barely blinking. His hand looks more like it’s just shaking than actually taking notes, but as long as he remains conscious, Leo keeps his worrying to himself, though he does continue sneaking glances over at the other.

By the time the class is over, Leo feels like he’s close to falling asleep, eyelids heavy like lead. Looking over to the person next to him, he finds that the other is still awake and buzzing, eyes impossibly wide as he finishes up his notes.

“Um–” Leo starts, because even if they’re strangers, he really can’t let this kid just walk around without any supervision. God forbid he end up crashing from the caffeine rush while outside. He’s so small, he would probably just fall into the snow and disappear.

The boy turns sharply to Leo before he can even say anything, his expression void of any emotion. “I have maximum ten minutes before I crash,” he says before quickly turning to pack up his things, hands still shaking.

“Ten minutes?” Leo repeats, wondering how the other could be so specific.

He nods. “I’ve done this before. I know what I’m doing.” And he says it with such conviction, Leo just has to believe him. Plus, it’s kind of difficult to say no to someone who looks like they’re ready to murder.

“You do this every time you have this class?”

“Of course not– then I would _actually_ die.” He stuffs his things inside his bag, seemingly not caring much if his papers end up wrinkled. “I had to work on a project yesterday. Ended up finishing at 4am, got up at 5am. Didn’t sleep much the night before.” He hoists his bag up on his back, “Eight minutes left.”

Leo has no idea how this person is even alive right now. “Should I follow you to your dorm or something? I don’t want you to crash in the middle of a snow pile.”

That suggestion seems to catch the boy off-guard, as if he hadn’t been expected Leo to offer him any help. It probably wasn’t common to reach out to a stranger like this, but Leo had a tendency to help whoever he thought needed it, no matter how recently he had just met them. Phichit always said that Leo was everyone’s mom friend even before he befriended people.

“Okay,” the boy agrees at last and Leo smiles at him. “But I don’t have much time.”

Leo has to bite back a laugh at how dramatic he is. The way he had said it made it sounds like he was dying rather than just about to fall asleep on his feet.

“Let’s go then. I’ll just carry you if you run out of time.”

That earns Leo a small smile, making the other look normal for once. Or at least like he was capable of emoting.

“I’m Leo, by the way,” he introduces himself as he moves towards the exit, already pulling his gloves on.

“Guang-Hong,” the other says, and it sounds vaguely familiar to Leo, though he’s not sure if he’ll actually be able to say it right.

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you, Guang-Hong,” he hesitates for a moment to check if Guang-Hong will correct his pronunciation but he just continues walking. Leo has to wonder if Guang-Hong is even hearing everything he says to him. “I’ve seen you in this class before but I never got around to introducing myself.”

Guang-Hong glances up at Leo then, hands now grasping the straps of his backpack, probably to keep them from shaking. The look he gives Leo is unreadable and lasts only for a moment before Guang-Hong turns his face again. “Many people take that class,” he says simply.

“Yeah, but I like getting to know people when I get the chance,” Leo smiles. He’s always been a social butterfly, never hesitating to say hi to people. It’s resulted in many friends and even more acquaintances but Leo certainly doesn’t mind. When he walks down the hallways of the college, there’s always at least one familiar face.

Though Leo doesn’t know Guang-Hong well, or actually, _at all_ , Leo can’t help but assume that Guang-Hong is of the quieter type. The way he held himself didn’t exactly ooze confidence nor did it seem like he wanted to talk much.

But then again, Leo doubted he would be in a very good mood himself after getting such little sleep. Maybe he was just too tired to talk; maybe he was weirded out by Leo’s friendliness. Maybe it was a mix of all those things.

“You still holding up fine?” Leo asks when Guang-Hong starts looking like he’s spacing out. It takes a moment before he gets a response.

“I can no longer feel my own heartbeat in my ears, so I guess that’s an improvement at least.” Guang-Hong pauses for a moment. “Unless it means that my heart has stopped.”

Leo is still torn between being concerned or laughing, which was usually the case around most sleep-deprived people. At least Guang-Hong was still capable of walking in a straight line, though the look in his eyes still makes him look like he’s ready to murder. It’s impressive how many students coming their way immediately steer clear of Guang-Hong the moment they make eye contact with him, especially when Guang-Hong is so small, looking like an angered hamster at worst.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you if your heart actually does stop,” Leo smiles.

Guang-Hong gives him another one of those unreadable looks, though it’s accompanied by a raised eyebrow this time. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you want to help me?” Guang-Hong clarifies, stepping out into the snow when Leo holds the door open for him. He immediately wraps his arms around himself, gloved hands shoved into his armpits to keep them warm.

Leo shrugs, his smile turning somewhat amused. “Am I not allowed to help people for no reason?”

“Most people wouldn’t,” Guang-Hong argues, burying nearly half his face into the fluffy scarf around his neck.

“I guess,” Leo admits, “but I don’t mind helping people out. Especially when they look like they’re about to drop dead.”

Guang-Hong rolls his eyes but Leo thinks he can see a smile peeking out over the edge of the scarf. “I don’t look _that_ bad.”

“You look like you haven’t slept in weeks... No offense.”

“None taken,” Guang-Hong replies. “I haven’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in weeks so it makes sense.”

“Must be a tough project you’re working on.”

When Guang-Hong peeks up at him this time, his expression is a mix between surprise and confusion. “My project?”

“Yeah? The one you mentioned earlier?”

“I mentioned it earlier?” Guang-Hong parrots sounding just as confused. “Oh.”

Yeah, that caffeine was definitely wearing off. “You’re about to crash,” Leo says with a sympathetic smile. “Should I get ready to catch you?”

Guang-Hong doesn’t answer the question, instead fumbling for his phone for a moment, checking the time. “Four minutes maximum,” he mumbles, more to himself than to Leo.

“Are we close to your dorm at least?”

Guang-Hong lifts his head to check the surroundings, squinting a little at the brightness. “It’ll take more than four minutes to get there. I should run.”

Leo looks skeptical. “You’re already dragging your feet, I doubt you can run.” Honestly, Leo was surprised Guang-Hong was still remaining upright. His feet were barely moving above the ground as he walked, but even though his pace had definitely slowed down since earlier, he was at least still moving.

“Guess I’ll just die then.”

This time Leo can’t hold back the snort of amusement. Guang-Hong was just too overdramatic and Leo had no idea if it was because of the exhaustion, or if this was simply how Guang-Hong was all the time. Either way, he found it amusing.

“I can carry you?” Leo offers.

“What?”

“I can carry you if you’re too tired to keep walking. Like I said, I don’t want you to collapse in the snow.”

“I’m not letting you carry me,” Guang-Hong quickly retorts and Leo has a hunch that the blush on his cheeks isn’t entirely due to the cold now. “I still got... three minutes left.”

Leo thinks Guang-Hong has one minute tops, but he doesn’t bother to argue about that. “Seriously, I don’t mind carrying you. You don’t live that far away, right?”

“Well, no, but–”

“Then I don’t see a problem,” Leo grins.

“I’m not that light, you know.”

Leo waves the worries away with a dismissive hand. “It’ll be fine. I can carry you some of the way at least, so you’ll save the energy you got left.” He comes to a stop in the middle of the snow-covered path and Guang-Hong is quick to stop as well. “C’mon, get on my back.”

Guang-Hong looks hesitant, but in the end, his exhaustion seems to weigh out how shy he is, and he hesitantly climbs up on Leo’s back. Leo staggers just a little bit at first, earning a surprisingly high-pitched yelp from Guang-Hong, but he manages to straighten up quickly. “I said I’m not light–” Guang-Hong whines though he makes no move to climb off.

“I got you, don’t worry,” Leo replies with as much conviction he can muster, before continuing on their treck back to Guang-Hong’s dorm. “Just point out which dorm building is yours.”

“That one,” Guang-Hong raises one gloved hand to point at a building at the furthest end of area. It’s not too far away, but just like Guang-Hong had said, it’s definitely going to take more than four minutes to get there.

Guang-Hong already sounds like he’s close to falling asleep on Leo’s back, though Leo can’t say he’s too surprised. Once the caffeine wears off, you crash hard and you crash _fast_. Leo doesn’t have the heart to tell Guang-Hong to try and stay awake, instead trying to walk as smoothly as possible, only occasionally stopping to hoist Guang-Hong higher up before he can slip down. Guang-Hong makes no indicator that he even notices the movement.

By the time they get to the entrance of the building, Leo is admittedly tired in his arms and legs, but he manages to get there without a single complaint. It helps reminding himself that the person on his back is much more tired than him.

“Guang-Hong?” he tries, not daring to look over his shoulder in fear of accidentally bumping his nose into Guang-Hong’s. When there’s no answer, he resorts to giving Guang-Hong’s leg a gentle poke. He’s not about to drop him on his ass if he’s actually asleep– which seems to be the case, because Guang-Hong doesn’t respond to the poke either. “Hey, Guang-Hong,” Leo tries again, this time louder and accompanied with a little jump to jostle Guang-Hong.

That seems to finally get a response out of him, though Leo isn’t able to decipher the sounds he makes. He’s not even sure if it’s English.

“We’re here,” he says softly, “Outside the building.”

There’s another beat of silence before Guang-Hong manages a quiet, “Okay,” before trying to slip down Leo’s back. Leo lets him, though he’s quick to turn around to steady Guang-Hong in case he might need it.

Guang-Hong immediately stumbles a little, unsteady on his feet after having been on asleep on Leo’s back. The walk had only lasted five minutes or so, but it had apparently been enough for all the caffeine to wear off. Leo reaches out to hold him up. “Guang-Hong?”

“Yes. Yeah, I’m here. I’m fine,” he mumbles, sounding very much _not fine_ , so Leo keeps his arms on Guang-Hong’s shoulders just in case. Guang-Hong doesn’t seem to mind, simply turning to the door to open it. “Oh,” he says quietly then, one hand pushing the door as he looks at Leo over the shoulder. He looks like he’s struggling to keep his eyes open, squinting up at Leo. “Thank you for helping me.”

Leo hesitates, “You sure you don’t want me to follow you to your room or anything?”

Guang-Hong pauses, “You want to see my room?”

The way he says it quickly makes Leo backtrack. “I didn’t mean it that way– you look like you won’t be able to walk up the stairs. I just want to make sure you get there alright.”

At this point it looks like Guang-Hong has closed his eyes entirely so Leo’s relieved when Guang-Hong doesn’t argue anymore and lets him come into the building as well. He lets Guang-Hong walk on his own and lead the way, though he sticks close to Guang-Hong’s side, just in case he might suddenly collapse, which really looks like it might be possible.

Luckily Guang-Hong’s room isn’t far from the entrance, and they manage to get to the room without any problems– not counting how he almost falls asleep against the door.

“Make sure to get some proper rest, okay?” Leo says, still with a hand on Guang-Hong’s shoulder as the other unlocks the door with sluggish moments. As amusing as a sleep-deprived person could be, Leo would much rather have Guang-Hong be well-rested.

To his surprise, Guang-Hong produces a small smile. “You really are too nice,” he mumbles. “Thank you, Leo. I promise I’ll go straight to sleep.”

It already looks like Guang-Hong is halfway there, but Leo doesn’t say anything about that. Instead he gives Guang-Hong one final smile and a nod, “I’ll take your word for it. See you next Wednesday then?”

Guang-Hong nods, “Yeah. See you.”

And as Leo walks back to his own dorm, he can’t help but think that morning classes aren’t that bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> written for day five of leoji week: college au! i dont know anything about american college so sorry for any inaccuracies!! thank you for reading!
> 
> hmu on twitter @ tadanorisera


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